Nintendo Recognizes Same-Sex Relationships In Spite Of Japan’s Laws

Nintendo has updated its corporate social responsibility guidelines to confirm it provides same-sex couples the benefits that opposite-sex couples receive

It should be noted that Japan currently does not allow same-sex couples to marry in the country, which makes the move from Nintendo an important one. As spotted by Go Nintendo, the gaming company has released its latest CSR report, covering the topics of consumers, supply chain, employees, and environment.

It’s the employees section that is most notable, as Nintendo publicly acknowledges that it formally recognizes same-sex relationships within the company.

“We introduced the Partnership System in March 2021 as one initiative based on this philosophy,” reads part of the employees section. “Although same-sex marriages are not currently recognized under Japanese law, this system ensures employees who are in a domestic partnership with a same-sex partner have the same benefits as employees in an opposite-sex marriage.

“We have also established that a common-law marriage between couples will be observed in the same way as a legal marriage.”

This section also notes that the company’s internal regulations regarding harassment have been revised to “clearly prohibit discriminatory comments based on sexual orientation or gender identity, as well as disclosing someone’s privately held sexual orientation against their will.”

Last month, as reported by Time, a court in Osaka ruled that the freedom of marriage in the country’s constitution only covered male-female unions, meaning the ban on same-sex marriage is constitutional. Transgender people in Japan are also required to be sterilized due to the country’s laws, which makes Nintendo’s stance on being against harassment of anyone’s gender identity also important.

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